


Working to Make It Right This Time

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Groundhog Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-16 09:03:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21505345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: Fulcrum trains Anakin, tries little changes, in hopes of making this one the last time they relive the loop.
Comments: 24
Kudos: 179





	Working to Make It Right This Time

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Get It Right This Time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20687744) by [Merfilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly). 



"You may ask questions, you know," Fulcrum said, as she pushed the button to close the hatch.

"Where are we going? Why do I feel like I know you? Is this your ship? ALL yours?" Ani asked, even as he followed her to the cockpit.

"We are going, first, to the Chommell Sector, where we will wait for the Naboo attack on the Trade Federation. We'll assist them," Fulcrum told the child. "After, we will be going to your homeworld, and help your mother." When his jaw dropped open, Fulcrum reached over and ruffled his hair a little. "And yes; it is my ship."

She didn't answer the second question, and he didn't press, afraid all of this was some horrible trick or she might change her mind.

He would learn, she vowed, to take her at her word. Either that, or she would know she had failed him again.

* * *

"Why didn't we stay? I would have liked to see Padmé again," Ani said, as they settled in hyperspace. "Blowing that ship up meant the armies were deactivated, right? It would have been safe to land."

Fulcrum stood from the pilot's seat to go get food for them both. "Ani, your mother needs us more than we need to deal with the political side of that fight," she said patiently. She was not exposing him to either Sith, not that she was certain if Dooku had actively Fallen yet, but in so many of these cycles, they had both been on Naboo for Jinn's funeral. She'd find out later if they had managed to avoid that fate, if the ripples had spread that far.

"But they won't know we did it, and might worry about some super strong threat bigger than the Trade Federation," Ani countered, stubbornly, and Fulcrum paused, before dropping down to her knees to be on his level. He flinched then, as she met his eyes, and only had softness for him.

"In time, Ani, Padmé will know who you are. Believe me, my padawan, that this is something the Force itself will not get in the way of. But you must be patient."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

Once Shmi was freed and introduced to a widower named Cliegg Lars, one with a son not much older than Anakin, Fulcrum took the boy back to the Temple. She had tried training him away from the Order, and lost him to death. Oftentimes training in the Temple led to a Fall, but she was fairly certain she knew what to do to avert that this time.

Instead of forcing Anakin to interact with the Initiates close to his age, she took him into the creche, and worked with him at the infancy level, starting at the very most basic tricks of the Force. He was fascinated, unthreatened, and a quick learner. 

The one thing she failed to take into consideration, though, was Anakin running into one of the younglings outside the infants and toddlers they had been working with.

A specific, into-everything, orange-skinned, white-marked, and blue-white lekku'd Togruta bratling.

"Fulcrum?"

She looked at Ani, who had this imp of a youngling attached at the hand, and wondered exactly how she was going to handle this. In all her attempts, she'd steered Ani clear of Ahsoka Tano the younger, worried about echoing bonds and the fact Ahsoka would have nightmares to rival any her student did.

"Yes, Ani?"

"I found a new friend. Her name is Ahsoka Tano. She doesn't always use Basic, though. Can you help me learn her language?"

She met her padawan's eyes, and saw that he suspected a connection. How could he not, when the Force would sing from the child as much as from the adult?

"I can help you understand her, and teach you a few words that most humans can use properly," Fulcrum said, resigning herself. Then again, one more change… maybe this one would help too.

* * *

She still did not say the word Sith, refusing to confirm or deny the speculation about the warrior Qui-Gon had faced, twice now, and managed to escape from. Mace Windu was not happy to have her being more enigmatic than usual, but her focus was Anakin.

And tiny 'Soka, but that was another problem she wasn't really speaking about. With Shaak Ti out of the temple, training Fe Sun on Shili, there was no one there to listen to 'Soka's nightmare words and translate them save Fulcrum. Because of Anakin, she had reached the child first, before Plo could be summoned. 

[Shh, little one. Shh. Yes, the waves are danger. Yes, the boys are hurting. But they will hurt more if we go now. The bad people would find a way to destroy them,] Fulcrum told her younger self while Anakin listened to the trilling noises and worried.

She did not want to think about that life, the one where she chose to lead an intervention at Kamino. Over ninety percent of the boys had died, and few of the survivors escaped without injury from the assault the Trade Federation had sent.

[But—] 'Soka tried to argue.

[Tell them they will be okay. Tell they we will come in time. Talk to them when you see them in your dreams.]

'Soka looked dubious, but nodded after a moment.

Fulcrum laid down on the half-size bed, curling up, and soon had both children tucked close, to have as much sleep as they could manage.

* * *

She knew she could not control every aspect of events to keep Anakin as safe as she wished from outside influences.

She dearly wanted to know how the filthy di'kut had engineered an emergency on such short notice. Had he become aware of the fact she sat outside of the true flow of the Force in this time loop? Would she be targeted now, like in that one world where they'd dragged Anakin from her as she died?

What if defeating him didn't free her from this cycle of life and death? What if protecting Anakin wasn't enough to undo the cycle? She'd kept him from Falling once before, only to see him killed and the galaxy erupt in the flames of unrelenting cruelty.

"Fulcrum and Anakin Skywalker, is it?" the man asked from the safety of his entourage. "How fortunate we all were for you to be here, to save and protect so many. You must allow me to show the gratitude of the Senate for your quick actions."

Fulcrum shifted her voice unconsciously, making it project to the other Senators, aides, and guards all around, as well as those who had come to lend aid. "It is the duty of a Jedi to protect others. To accept reward for it is not our way. Our lives are lived in service to the Force, then to the Republic. We shall ever stand against the threats that arise." With that, she bowed, and escorted her padawan away from the danger.

She did not look back, and took Anakin quickly back to the Temple, where she locked her arms around him and held on.

"You don't like him," Ani said, as he curled into that fierce hold. "Is he part of the problem?"

Fulcrum nodded, but did not elaborate. Not yet. Let Ani finish growing up before she burdened him.

* * *

After that, it was safer to go abroad. Fulcrum did not want the boy in contact with the Sith, so they took small missions all over the galaxy. She tried to make certain Anakin saw the people at the lower levels of all they went into, trying, for perhaps the hundredth time, to make certain he was grounded in the truth of the common sapient being.

It was part of her plan to shape him to a man that cared too much to Fall, to let the galaxy burn.

* * *

Padmé Amidala never got less vibrant, Fulcrum decided, even as she kept a thread of consciousness on Anakin. He was so agitated… but she knew better now. He'd told her of his visions, of knowing this woman was meant to be his partner in life some time.

{The Force can show us things that feel like they must happen, Anakin, but you have to remember that people have their own free wills. If it is meant to be, I think it is wonderful. But you need to not let it overwhelm your instincts with her. You need to give her space to find that path, not shove her onto it.}

So far, he was managing to be polite and kind and not overwhelming in his manners toward the Senator.

"I truly feel like this is too much," Padmé was saying.

"Milady," Fulcrum began. "Your sister-warrior was killed in your place, and you are such a visible part of the hope we have for the peaceful means of undoing the efforts to bring the galaxy to war. Let us grant you this protection. For what it is worth, I choose my tasks from those the Order has on hand, so it is not as if I am being made to do this. My student is most interested in aiding your cause once more, so please be at ease."

Padmé looked at Anakin more fully then, and Fulcrum spotted the faint flush before the woman dropped her eyes with a small smile.

"I hardly recognized you, Ani," she said then.

"You look like I remember. Well, not entirely. Older. Yes. But still an angel," Anakin got out, and Fulcrum wanted to bury her face in the palm of her hand. 

"Just a woman," was Padmé's response.

Had the pair been that awkward in that first, long-ago life?

* * *

The difference, Fulcrum decided, was in Anakin being calmer.

Jinn-and-Kenobi had gone to Kamino, lured in by Jango Fett.

Fulcrum-and-Skywalker were already in place on Geonosis. The trap never failed to begin here, even as Fulcrum had rearranged certain pieces by suggesting Padmé attempt direct negotiation.

The Trade Federation set the rest up, and even though Anakin had protested the use of the Senator as bait, he had stayed focused. Padmé came through her brief imprisonment without more than anger for the duplicity of the other side. 

It wasn't Jedi that came, not alone, to be slaughtered. Padmé's mission had invoked Fleet protection. Fleet ships had brought her here and been destroyed. That brought the Republic directly into the conflict, as the Fleet were unwilling to let that stand without recourse.

Jinn-and-Kenobi brought the reinforcements, and from there, the battle was better organized than the first time around. It was organized well enough for Fulcrum to hunt a Sith with fatal results.

"Anakin," she whispered as her padawan knelt, touching his face with a hand going numb. Nearby, Dooku's body was cooling, and both her lightsabers had fallen near his body with his last, dying lunge. 

"Stay with me, Master," Anakin begged, but he knew. He could feel her pulling free of their bond, trying to protect him one more time.

"Do not trust the Chancellor," she said, using all the will she had ever had. "Dooku… his creature… don't… don't let him have you."

Was he strong enough? She had died before him before. He always seemed to Fall or die in those worlds.

His blue eyes blazed behind the tears, before he brought his forehead down to hers. "Sith?"

She managed a nod, before she let her eyes close, her hearing the last thing to fail her as he answered the nod.

"Then he dies."

* * *

Would it be enough… would it start over again… were they trapped for all time to repeat the cycle…

A soul waited, while others battled, to learn the truth.


End file.
